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Abstract A new formulation for the evaporation, flashing, condensation processes taking place in the effects of thermal desalination systems which simulates the operation of both forward and parallel/cross configurations is coupled with an exergo-economic model based on the SPECO method. The thermo-economic model uses accurate properties for the seawater, brine, pure water and vapour and is solved with an equation solver which does not require the development of a specific solution algorithm as in most previous studies. This flexible model is used to analyze the influence of the number of effects N and the temperature difference ΔT e between effects on the technical and economic performance of multi-effect desalination systems with ejector vapour compression. In particular, it is shown that the performance calculated by an earlier black-box approach is not attainable by technically and economically realistic systems. It is also shown that for each feed configuration and a given number of effects there exists an optimum value of ΔT e which minimizes the cost of the produced potable water. This last result forms the basis of a procedure that combines black-box results with the optimum value of ΔT e and can be used to select the appropriate system for any specific application.

Abstract Clamping mechanisms have significant effect on the performance of polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cells. In this paper, PEM fuel cell with new clamping mechanism is designed to study the contact pressure distribution over the active area of PEM fuel cell's membrane electrode assembly (MEA). The clamping pressure is pneumatically exerted on the PEM fuel cell assembly. A comparison between the conventional and new clamping mechanism is carried out with simulation, and the numerical results are validated against experimental investigation performed in the fuel cell technology research laboratory. The experimental results are gathered using embedded pressure measurement films in the designed single cell. The results achieved via finite element method are in good agreement with experimental results. It is concluded that the contact pressure distribution of MEA for the new clamping mechanism is more uniform than the conventional one.

Abstract The 2013/2017 Nankai Trough (Japan) and 2017 Shenhu Area (China) offshore methane hydrate production tests showed the world the possibility and feasibility of the oceanic methane hydrate production by depressurization. However, the relatively low gas production rate still remained as one of the critical bottlenecks for the economical utilization. This study chose the Nankai Trough as a target area, and aimed at the gas recovery enhancement from the methane hydrate reservoir using vertical wells. A traditional single-vertical-well system and a new dual-vertical-well system were proposed, and special production strategies of the aggressive depressurization and permeability improvement were applied to these two systems for the effectiveness verification. Based on the 15-year simulation results, it was found that the middle low-permeability silt-dominated layers in the reservoir held the key to the gas recovery enhancement, and for the single-vertical-well system, the permeability improvement in this sublayer seemed more reliable and feasible than the aggressive depressurization. On the other hand, the dual-vertical-well system significantly exceeded the single-vertical-well system due to the synergistic effect of the two wellbores, and could raise the average gas production rate (9.5 × 103 m3/day) by one order of magnitude (to 7.9 × 104 m3/day). Moreover, if this new system was combined with the aggressive depressurization, the average gas production rate could be further raised by one order of magnitude (to 3.4 × 105 m3/day).

Abstract This article introduces an effective stochastic operation framework for optimal energy management of the shipboard power systems including large, nonlinear and dynamic loads. The proposed framework divides the ship power system into several agents, which coordinate with each other based on their demands/supplies until. The alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM) is deployed as the multi-agent framework to solve the reformulated distributed energy management problem in the ship. Two types of turbo-generators are considered in the proposed system model, including single-shaft and twin-shaft models, to increase the part-load efficiency in certain times when facing variable speed operation. The proposed distributed framework is equipped with a recursive mechanism, which helps the ship system for running optimal load scheduling when facing insufficient power generation. In order to model the uncertainty effects associated with the forecast error in the interval-ahead load demand, a stochastic framework based on unscented transform is devised which can work in the nonlinear and correlated environments of shipboard power systems. Due to the nonlinear cost function in each agent, a powerful optimization algorithm based on modified θ-firefly algorithm (Mθ-FOA) is proposed. This is a phasor algorithm, which helps for escaping from premature convergence and getting trapped in local optima. The appropriate performance of the proposed stochastic model is examined on the real dataset of a ship power system. The simulation results show the high robustness, guarantied consensus, economic operation and feasible solution when power generation shortage based on load shedding in the system.

Abstract Accurate power forecasting is of great importance to the turbine control and predictive maintenance. However, traditional physics models and statistical models can no longer meet the needs of precision and flexibility when thermal power plants frequently undertake more and more peak and frequency modulation tasks. In this study, the recurrent neural network (RNN) and convolutional neural network (CNN) for power prediction are proposed, and are applied to predict real-time power of turbine based on DCS data (recorded for 719 days) from a power plant. In addition, the performances of two deep learning models and five typical machine learning models are compared, including prediction deviation, variance and time cost. It is found that deep learning models outperform other shallow models and RNN model performs best in balancing the accuracy-efficient trade-off for power prediction (the relative prediction error of 99.76% samples is less than 1% in all load range for test 216 days). Moreover, the influence of training size and input time-steps on the performance of RNN model is also explored. The model can achieve remarkable performance by learning only 30% samples (about 216 days) with 3 input time-steps (about 60 s). Those results of the proposed models based on deep-learning methods indicated that deep learning is of great help to improve the accuracy of turbine power prediction. It is therefore convinced that those models have a high potential for turbine control and predictable maintenance in actual industrial scenarios.

Abstract To improve the conversion efficiency of thermophotovoltaic devices, we designed a thermophotovoltaic system based on an InAs/InGaAsSb/GaSb three-junction tandem cell. The tandem cell can recover photons in the wavelength range of 200–3650 nm and therefore enhance the output power of the system. To further improve system performance, we designed a multilayer circular truncated cone metamaterial emitter matching the tandem cell. Existing TPV systems based on multi-junction tandem PV cells can achieve conversion efficiencies of 33.3%–41%, while the thermophotovoltaic system coupled with the multilayer circular truncated cone metamaterial can recover more photons of 1.44 mol/(m2·s) and achieve a higher conversion efficiency of 52.8% at 1773 K. The thermophotovoltaic system designed here demonstrates an extremely high energy conversion efficiency and has good application prospects.

A hybrid-twin for gas-bearing supported, high-speed turbocompressor is suggested to be an aide to increase the operational reliability and to provide valuable insights to improve its design. The bearing clearances of a few micrometers imply that excessive thermal or mechanical deformations can result in machine failure due to mechanical seizure or rotor-dynamic instabilities. The high centrifugal forces and thermal gradients may induce material fracture or the lift-off of press-fitted assemblies. The mentioned phenomena and interactions depend strongly on the operating conditions and imply a risk of hitting critical operating zones potentially unscreened during the design phase. The developed twin asset involves 1D multi-domain models that are accurate enough to provide useful information regarding the most critical interactions and are computationally viable for real-time applications suggesting a run-to-real time ratio of 2 per cent. A case study in which a turbocompressor touchdown is analyzed a posteriori using the twin asset to highlight the possible insights to be gained by using the virtual twin to predict data that cannot be readily measured such as the thrust bearing axial clearance under the impeller thrust force. Finally, the generation of signals by the twin asset providing a degree of redundancy with sensor values is highlighted as an opportunity to increase confidence in monitoring tasks, paving the way to extension into control strategies.

Abstract China's carbon emissions have been ranking first in the world. This study filled in the gaps in research, decomposed carbon intensity from the perspective of time, space and industry. A decoupling effort model based on factor decomposition models was constructed to analyze the driving factors of carbon emissions and economic decoupling, which builded a foundation for achieving sustainable economic development. Using the Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index method (LMDI), the paper measured the carbon emission intensity of 29 provinces and cities in China from 1998 to 2019, and decomposed the decoupling effect between GDP and carbon emission on the basis of factor decomposition by tapio. The results showed that: (1) Carbon intensity declined first, then rise lightly, and finally declined steadily. For the primary industry and the tertiary industry, the carbon intensity declined steadily, while the carbon intensity increased accordingly to the overall carbon intensity. In terms of spatial evolution, the regional differences between different provinces decreased correspondingly. (2) The cumulative contribution rates of these three effects, i.e., technological progress, industrial structure and regional scale were 106.3299%, −15.1486% and 8.8188%, respectively. There were obvious differences of these cumulative contribution rates of carbon intensity among different provinces. (3) From the perspective of industrial, technological progress effect is the largest contribution for carbon intensity in the secondary industry. The Industrial structure effect mainly affects the primary and tertiary industries; and no significant difference in regional scale effect. (4) The decoupling effect gradually improved, and technological progress has played an absolute leading role in promoting the decoupling effect. Based on the research results, the key policy recommendation are put forward as follows: (1) Further improve the technological level and support clean technology enterprises. (2) Promote industrial upgrading in backward industrial provinces (3) Promote regional assistance and the introduction of high-quality foreign investment.